Using pulse diversity to manage pests and diseases
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In light of the 'Soils and pulses: symbiosis for life – A contribution to the Agenda 2030' event that took place at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), Bioversity International's researcher Paola De Santis highlighted the importance of pulse diversity in managing pests and diseases in farmers' fields. Planting diverse pulse varieties can reduce the farm’s vulnerability to pests and diseases, and is a risk management strategy for unpredictability in rainfall and temperatures. Learn more about Bioversity International's research on managing pests and diseases: http://bit.ly/23ZWtBW
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Using pulse diversity to manage pests and diseases
- 1. Using pulse diversity to manage pests and diseases Paola De Santis, Agricultural Ecosystems Researcher, Bioversity International 19 April 2016
- 2. Smallholder farmers maintain substantial numbers of traditional varieties of pulses. Many are grown for their resistance to major pests and diseases, adaptation to temperature and rainfall extremes, poor soil conditions, reduced cooking time, and taste. Crop varietal diversity in farmers’ fields Changes in pest and pathogen populations Unpredictability of rain and temperature/ water scarce poor soils 2009 wet 2010 dry Linking Diversity with disease resistance and climate Ochoa et al., 2010, unpublished data Photo: M. Arbaoui
- 3. Central hypothesis Genetic uniformity of monocultures (wide areas planted to a single pulse variety) leads to genetic vulnerability, Therefore Increasing intra-specific diversity of pulses on farm may lead to reduced losses from pests and diseases Only if the diversity exists in relevant traits Photo:BioversityInternational/I.Lopez-Noriega
- 4. Crops (food security for smallholder farmers; different breeding systems) • Coverage of different resistance gene system (where resistance is controlled by both major and minor genes) • Transmission systems: seed-borne, soil-borne, and air-borne • Plant organ affected: leaf, stem, seeds and roots Is varietal diversity in farmers’ fields reducing pest and disease damage and vulnerability to future loss? Diversity Disease ?
- 5. Can increasing the level of diversity in a field, in a controlled selected repeatable way, with well chosen components, give a benefit over monocultures, or treatments with less diversity? Photo: M. Arbaoui Photo:J.Adokorach
- 6. HouseholdweighteddamageindexWDI Number of varieties grown per household Angular Leave Spot Anthracnose In times of higher disease incidence (Anthracnose) higher relationship of varietal diversity with reduced damage Number of varieties grown per household
- 7. Common bean and severity of bean fly damage (Uganda) Ssekandi, W et al. Journal of Pest Science. 2015 Traditional variety Commercial variety
- 8. Dissecting the mixture: %Resistance; % Susceptible; rows vs random Ssekandi, W et al., Journal of Pest Science. 2015 Random mixture 25%R 75%S 50%R 50%S 75%R 25%S 25%R 75%S 50%R 50%S 75%R 25%S 25%R 50%R 75%R 25%R 50%R 75%R Alternate-row mixture
- 9. Key elements of healthy production system Farmers need access to good quality diverse seeds at the right time and in sufficient quantity. Formal release of improved traditional cowpea Good quality seed can be produced by improving traditional pulse varieties through both conventional breeding and participatory crop improvement. Seed production o Farmers and scientists assess crop genetic diversity (local and/or improved varieties) o They monitor the crop cycle through weekly meetings at the experimental site o At the end of the cycle, varieties with desired traits are selected, multiplied and disseminated within and outside the group Diversity Field Fora
- 10. o Improve access to rare germplasm o create public awareness on the value of local crop diversity o locate prime areas of diversity and identify rare and unique varieties o promote exchange of community based seed and knowledge Diversity Fairs Seed flow and seed access Diversifying seed sources (e.g. community seed banks supplying traditional varieties, private suppliers providing commercial varieties) Key elements of healthy production system Farmers need access to good quality diverse seeds at the right time and in sufficient quantity.
- 11. Thank you www.bioversityinternational.org/subscribe @BioversityInt Paola De Santis p.desantis@cgiar.org
Editor's Notes
- Pulses are a staple crop produced all over the world, with many smallholder farmers from vulnerable ecosystems responsible for their production. However there have been limited investments from research and private sectors to improve production. Ex in Niger Mali and Burkina 99% of the seeds for cowpea and groundnut come from the traditional seed system. Pulses, while fitting easily into the category of “staple crop” for their prevalence as a crop of choice in subsistence farming, are also considered a “specialty crop” in the broader agricultural context. With some important exceptions, the narrow niche they have been assigned has not risen to the level of receiving significant government intervention to increase production and trade, nor have industrial seed hybridizers made substantial investment into their potential. Between 1961 and 2012, the advances of the Green Revolution led to massive gains in both yield and production of many basic foodstuffs through the industrialization of farming – hybridization, irrigation and extensive use of herbicides and pesticides. During this period maize, wheat, rice and soya all saw cumulative production gains somewhere between 200 percent and 800 percent, while pulses expanded by only 59 percent over the same timeframe (Table 1). Photo: Isabel Lopez Noriega
- Farmers may use a portfolio of varieties to manage different abiotic and biotic stresses. It may be uncertain when rainfall will fall and farmers may have different varieties they use in a dry or wet year. Farmers may use particular varieties for poor soils, they may use varieties that are more cold tolerant. They may also plant mixtures of different varieties of one crop to manage pest and disease. Local varieties may be more adapted to a particular environment than the improved varieties – in that if both improved and local varieties are grown in one area without inputs such as fertilizer or pesticides the local variety may produce more. This better adaptation would mean reduced agricultural inputs (such as fertilizer and pesticides) – thus reduced costs to farmers, and hopefully reduced ground water pollution and less impact on human health and on other organisms in the production system such as beneficial pollinators and soil micro-organisms. Increased unpredictability of the onset and amount of rain fall, temperature, new pest and pathogens Reduced chemical inputs, low input agriculture, water use efficiency; the growing consumer demand for diverse intra-specific crop materials and products and for more natural food-based production systems, and the concerns and interests of the farmers and communities themselves who wish to retain control over their production systems.
- More specifically we have been looking at how and if increasing the diversity presents benefits compared to monocultures. And we have to look at what kind of diversity we are talking about.
- When talking about mixtures we have to take into consideration not only the characteristics of the varieties (in terms of farmers' preferences, resistance and susceptibility to the most important pests and diseases) but also at their arrangement and their percentage within the mixture. This graphs shows the importance of arrangement to maximize the effect of mixtures. Given the same percentages of the different components In random mixtures the level of the infestation decreases significantly
- Diversity fairs: farmers are invited to bring and display the diversity they manage. This is a forum to create awareness and interest of different stakeholders on the importance of local plant genetic resources. Diversity Field Fora are an important tool where farmers and scientist work together to identify the most promising varieties by testing and studying them in the farmers fields Diversity Fair improve access to rare germplasm create public awareness on the value of local crop diversity identify key custodians who maintain high genetic diversity locate prime areas of diversity and identify rare and unique varieties promote exchange of community based seed and knowledge educate young generation and also to influence policy makers on the value of agricultural biodiversity Diversity Field For a Men and women are organized in project teams (25-30) to assess crop genetic diversity Farmers use quality seeds of local cultivars or improved varieties selected in DFF (Farmers are trained in seed multiplication -PVS) Through weekly meetings, farmers are informed about international and national conventions/ legislations relevant to exchange of plant genetic resources (CBD, IT) or seed regulation. Social cohesion; reduce pastoral-farmer conflict
- THANK YOU/FINAL SLIDE